Wire cleat



March 23; 1948. G. F. DUNKELBERGER EI'AL 3 WIRE CLEAT Filed Sept. 29, 1945 Inventors: Geor e F? Dunkelber&er*

ay*les ASchehl Patented Man. 23, 1948 WIRE CLEA'I George F. Dunkelberger,Yeatlon, and Charles A. Schehl, Manna, Pa., assignors to General Elec-. txic Company, a corporation 01 New York Application September 29, 1945, Serlal N0. 619,406

Our invention relates 130 a clamp anal liner arrangement for use with a longitudinally extending body, as for instance a bundle of wlres, whereby the body may be attached to a suitable support.

In connection with the wiring of electric panels and the like, it is often necessary to support bundles of wires from the panel or the like. The number of wires in the bundle may vary widely and in order to reduce the number of parts necessary it would be desirable to have a clamp and liner arrangement which is universally adaptabie regardless of the number of wires in the bundle. 1

It is an object cf our invention 130 provide a 2 Claims. (C1. 174-40) clamp end linear arrangement which is universally adaptable to bundles of wires of various sizes with i;he clamp end liner being infinitely adjustable and the liner provided with means for securely holding lt in position beneath the clamp.

lt is another objecl: of our invention to provide a new and improved clamp and liner arrangement which is simple, inexpensive and completely satisfactory in every respect.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent as the following giescription proceeds anal the features of novelty which characterize our invention will be pointed out with p2irticularity in the claims ann axed 150 and forming a part of this specificatlon.

For a better understanding of our invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of the clamp anal liner arrangement of our invention, and Fig. 2 is a small end view partly in section, looking in the direction of arrow 2 in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated a clamp which comprises a strap of metal l which is flexible and is adapted to be looped about a longitudinally extending body, such as a bundle of wires. The str.p l is provided with any suitable inflnitely adjustable fastening means, such for example as is illustrated by the numeral 2 in Fig. 1. The particular fastening means employed forms no part of our invention so long as lt is inflnitely adjustable. By lnflnitepolymer) ly adjustable is meant that it may be used to l is fastened to plate 4 by any suitable means, such for example as a plurality of spaced openings 6 in plate 4 through which strap I may be iooped. If desired, a portion of plate 4 betWeen the openings 6 may be raised as indicated at l.

For purposes of insulation and to be sure thai; the ciamp is perfectly smooth on its interior it has been customary to employ a liner of insulating material. Heretofore, such liners have either been of complicated and expensive shapes and unsuitable for an inflnitely adjustable loop clamp, or they were constructed so that there was great likelihood of the liner slipping out from beneath the clamp or the ends of the liner becoming laterally displaced.

In accordance with our invention we preferably provlde a liner 8 formed of insulatlng material which may be made in thin strips so as to be sufllciently rigid to hold its shape and yel: flexible enough to fit around a variable sized bundle of wires. We have found that a very desirable insulating material for this purpose may be purchased on the market under the trade name Vinylite (vinyl acetate-vinyl chloride eo- In accordance wlth our lnventlon linear 8 comprises a strip of flexible insulating material of substantially uniform cross-sectlonal area provided with a pair of parallel arranged longitudinally extending indentations 9 011 one side thereof with corresponding raised portions or ridges I0 on the other side thereof. The ends of the 1iner are overlapped so that the indemtations 9 of one end interflt with tl'ie ridges (Hi on the reverse side of the strip at the other end thereof. It is obvious (hat the indentations 511 and ridges I0 form interlocking means for preventing lateral displacement of the overlapping ends of the insulating strip forming the liner. The interlocking means function iegardless 0f how lauge or how small the bundle of wires is so long as the ends of the liner overlap to some extent. It is obvious that the liner is truly infinitely adjustable. The riclges I0 formed on the side of the strip oioposite the indentations are arranged on the clamp side of the liner so that strap l cannot slide off nur can liner 8 move out from beneath the clamp. In other words, the interlocking means also serves to hold ehe linear beneath the clamp.

It is obvious that wlth the arrangement described above a.new and imbroved clamp and liner arrangement is provided wherein the clamp end liner are infinitely adjustable end yet inter-.

3 strip and which interlocking mea.ns also serves to hold the liner beneath the cla.mp.

While we have shown und described a partieular embodlment 01 our invention, lt will be obvious to those skilled in the art that varlous 5 changes und modlflcations may be made wlthout departlng from our invention in ii:s broader aspects and we, therefore. aim in the appeuded claims to cover all such changes und modiflcations es fall within the true 'spirit and scope 01 1 our invention.

What we claim es new and deslre to secure by Letters Patent 01 the United States is:

1. In an arrangement for holdlng a. bundle o1 wires together for attachment to a supporis, a

strip of insulating material adapted to surro1md the bundle o! wires wlth the ends 01 the strip overlapping, a. pair of parallel arranged longitudinally extencling indentations on one side 01 said strip and corresponding ridges an the other side o1! the strip, said rldges an one end 015 the overlapping portlons of said strip belng adapted to interengage with the indentetions on the other end of the strip to prevent lateral dlsplacement of the overlapping encls thereof und an adjustable loop clamp ar'ound the outside o1 seid strip between seid rldges tor preventing relative lateral movement cf the clamp and the strip.

2. In'an arrangemeni; for holdlng a bundle 01 wires together tor attachment 1:0 a. support, a

strip-of flexible insulatlng zrlaterial 01 substan- 4 tlaliy uniform cros&sectional area provided with two spacec1 substantlally parallel longitudinal indentations and adapted to be wrapped around the bundle of wires wlth the rldge side cf the indentatlons out and the ends of the strip overlapping and i;he corresponding indentations in register and an adjustable loop ciamp around the outslde 01 seid strlp between the ridges of seid lndentations.

GEORGE F. DUNKELBERGER. CHARLES A. SCHJEHL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file o1 thls patent:

UNITED STA'IES PATENTS Great Britain July 13, 1916 

